WHO'S MINI NOW!?!?!? (not miniboone)

  MiniBoone has long been one of my favorite local bands to catch live. They make every show feel like a party; high energy, danceable grooves, and plenty of sing-a-long moments that pull even the most tired and burned out concert goer off their barstool and onto the floor. The band consists of Doug Schrashun, Craig Barnes, James Keary (guitar, keys, vox between the three of them), Anthony Aquilino (bass) and Drew St. Aubin (drums), and they bring the complete package. Big group vocals and huge chords, and all the way down to pokey palm muted rhythmic riffs. I was super excited when I heard they were coming out with a full length album.

The guys in their natural, glowing, irradiated state.

  MiniBoone's self titled debut album catches a lot of the explosiveness of their live performances, probably about as much as humanly possible. The album peaks around loud gang vocals and climatic choruses; it kinda breathes in and out between them and the staccato punctuated verse grooves. I guess I'd say the album captures about 85% the energy of their live performance, which is good reason to catch a live show and by no means a knock on the album. But the nice thing about this album for me is how well done the kinda sweet/tender soft parts are. These guys can lay down next to you and drift off to sleep. They aren't just party animals. They have a soft side.

  The opening track, "The Superposition of Human Affection," is a spastic rocker that clocks in just under two minutes. These guys have a sense of song-craft that is really as well tuned as any pop artist out there. The following track, "I Could," adds a little more diversity, while maintaining the bands trademark textures. The guitar lick over the second verse kills me. MiniBoone made a video for it, check it out below.

Breaking Down "With Our Thoughts We Make The World" by Jane Eyre

  I don't know how a band can go from referencing Flannery O'Connor to referencing a Macaulay Culkin movie with a straight face, but Jane Eyre makes it seem as natural as hot air rising, electro-magnetism, and the pull of gravity, which now I think about it, are all actually kind of bizarre phenomena.  Jesse Rifkin's voice has a familiar timbre that I can't place, and as I sit here detoxing for an upcoming mini tour, sweaty/shaky, huddled with cats and tea, I can't help to be pulled into this album's orbit. With Our Thoughts We Make The World is a Buddha quote, overall this album is a bit of a meditation; a stoned, psychedelic jam that slips in and out song-form like thread through a needle. It really should be played through as an entire piece. I wouldn't call it a concept album, or maybe it's a concept beyond explanation, but take some time and sit down with it... just be in the moment.

Due out August 8th, 2013

  Hazel Motes 1 & 2 start the album off with sampled chatter from some ethereal scene of normalcy; guitar drones build the songs into aural waves, up until about the 3 min. mark in HM2, at which point St. Aubin's drums and Gordon's bass settle into a groove that pushes the epic along in a manner reminiscent of Can or later era Sonic Youth. Rifkin and Seretan's guitars sail overhead, then decrescendo back to about where the first track took off.

  Be Still, Be Silent is bass driven and absent of percussion. The track reminds me of something off of Astral Weeks, and overall, I think WOTWMTW is on a similar wavelength. You can question the accessibility of an album that doesn't jump out with an uptempo single, OR resign itself to atmospheric background music. I don't know if I consider it a fault that this album requires a deeper listen; it's just a rarity these days. However, if you're looking for a single, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York is it. The catchiest vocal hook on the album spearheads a song where 60's jangle guitars give way to 80's, almost Smiths-esque shimmering arpeggios, then to indie guitar squeal, then back for a chorus... and end scene.




 Borrowing Body, is a minor key ballad with a 6 feel. St. Aubin's drums shine through on this track. Quick fills between cymbal crashed downbeats mark the first half of the song. After a rest in the middle, the drums re-enter with a kind of awesomely anti-climatic snare roll. That's the best I can describe it. Just listen to it.

  Boy King Island comes out with pianos upfront and a simple grove. As guitar heavy as Jane Eyre's sound has been up to this point, it doesn't seem strange or jarring at all when the keys take over the role of the main chordal instrument. Bells Bells Bells fades in from a loud manic solo, to some tape noise, then a slow, jagged vocal serenade. About midway through the track, we get one more chance to rock, before the album decays into tape loop nothingness.

The band in the heat of battle.

  With Our Thoughts We Make The World is worth a listen. Actually, it's worth four. That's about what it took me to catch most of what is going on. This is an album that was made for a time when you sat down in front of a record player and did nothing but listen, (and drink and smoke pot and maybe make out). It's not an album for a 3 min. commodity to soothe your soul on the way from your apartment to the bodega, or to listen to on the train with all the background noise; it's not an album to blast while you pre-game with your buddies, or to put on a jukebox at a bar. It's an album for when you go home, and learn to be alone.

Pre-order the full album ---> here.

Like Jane Eyre on Facebook ---> here.

RSVP to their record release show ---> here.

Like Hearts Bleed Radio on Facebook ---> here.